'Perfect race' carries Canistota's Josiah Schroeder to Class B title

Marcus Traxler, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·4 min read

Oct. 23—HURON — It was the perfect plan and perfect race on Saturday for Canistota's Josiah Schroeder.

Schroeder, a senior, made his pass of Northwestern's Lincoln Woodring in the second half of the 5,000-meter race at Broadland Creek Golf Course and sped to the Class B state individual title in a time of 16 minutes, 38.25 seconds.

"He went hard up that hill but I knew we still had a lot of race left, so I let him go and make his move," On the back half of the second lap, there was a little bit of wind and a little downhill and that's where I felt like I could go get him. I just held on for my life to get to the finish line."

"He ran the perfect race, absolutely," Canistota coach Bridget Ortman said. "He knew exactly what we wanted to do. He had a plan and he executed it perfectly."

As Schroeder turned for the finish line, the lone competitor for the last 250 yards of the race, he said he was filled with relief. As he crossed the blue mats at the finish line, Schroeder collapsed in exhaustion and laid on his back with a half-smile of accomplishment.

"I've been working on this for as long as I can remember it," he said. "There were just a lot of emotions as I crossed that line."

Woodring finished fourth in the race. Freeman Academy/Marion's Tavin Schroeder finished second (17:06.47), while Potter County's Nicholas Schlacter was third (17:11.70).

Canistota's Schroeder was second in 2021 in Sioux Falls, finishing only behind Bison's Lane Krautschun by 18 seconds. But Krautschun's transfer to Belle Fourche opened the door for a new Class B champion. (The move worked out OK for Krautschun, who was second in Class A to teammate Sawyer Clarkson and helped the Broncs win the team title on Saturday.)

"Lane won it last year and when he moved on, I knew I had a good chance to win this," Schroeder said.

He is the first state cross country champion in Canistota High School history. Ortman said the second-place finish in 2021 told her that Schroeder was fully capable of winning it all in 2022. Earlier in the season, Schroeder's training peaked with 50 miles of running a week before he tapered in preparation for the region and state meets.

"Our job was not to mess it up," Ortman said. "He's trained himself and our job was to support him. He's trained so hard and the main thing for him this year was his mental work. ... He's had the ability but he's honed in on the mental side and you could totally see that today."

The post-race plan was to hit a Mexican restaurant in Huron for a celebratory meal. Schroeder had to think but then settled on what his order was going to be.

"A big burrito and a big pop, I think," he said, smiling.

Mitchell Christian's Silas Holdeman ran himself into the school record books once again on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles' eighth-grader came home with a sixth-place finish in the Class B boys race, taking advantage of an energy edge he had over his opponents over the second half of the race. Holdeman ran 17:38.18, narrowly missing out on catching fifth-place finisher Wakely Burns, of Philip (17:36.77).

"My coach told me to start out lightly but I got going and once I got to the second mile, I started picking off people and I was able to feed off that," Holdeman said.

It is the best individual state meet finish for an MCS runner since Christian Van Dyke took fifth place in 2010 as a senior in Huron. Holdeman was 21st last season in the state meet.

He said the feeling of making late passes to close ground at the top of the field was a great feeling.

"It gives you energy," he said. "I get tired but I push through it because God helps me. ... I might get credit but I'm doing it for God and only God."

As a team, Mitchell Christian finished just off the podium in seventh place with 71 points. Philip won the team title with 20 points, with Northwestern in second at 38, FAM at 53, Ipswich in fourth with 55, and Arlington (61) and Frederick Area (63) rounding out the top-six.

The Golden Eagles' Joseph Tegethoff (19:15.99) took 42nd place in the field and eighth-grader Luke Mentele (19:27.54) finished in 47th place for top-50 finishes. Senior Nahum Anderberg was 80th (20:24.43) and Aidan Lessman finished 107th (22:39.00).